Infrastructure
The man with the keys had almost finished sitting down when somebody called his name.
He stopped halfway into the chair.
“Sorry,” a woman said from the kitchen door. “It’s locked.”
The man looked at his plate.
Then at the door.
Then back at his plate.
“Course it is.”
He stood again.
Syd watched him cross the parish hall.
Syd“That’s four.”
Oliver cut into his chicken.
Oliver“Four what?”
Syd“Times he’s gotten up.”
Oliver“You’re counting?”
Syd“I started counting at two.”
The man unlocked the kitchen. Before he made it back to his table, somebody caught him near the microphone stand.
Syd nodded toward him.
Syd“Five.”
Oliver“He seems happy to help.”
Syd“He was also happy to eat.”
The microphone gave a short burst of feedback.
Everyone looked up.
The man disappeared behind a speaker. A moment later, he stood and tapped the microphone twice.
“Testing.”
It worked.
A few people clapped.
The man bowed.
Syd applauded too.
Oliver looked at him.
Syd“What?”
Oliver“You’re encouraging it.”
Syd“I appreciate good service.”
The man returned to his table.
Someone had taken his chair.
Syd stopped clapping.
The woman in the chair noticed him standing there with his plate.
“Oh, Lord. I’m sorry.”
“No, no. You’re fine.”
He pulled another chair from the wall and sat at the end of the table.
Syd picked up his fork.
Syd“That’s how it happens.”
Oliver“How what happens?”
Syd“Once you get to a certain point, appreciation becomes entitlement.”
Oliver looked across the room.
Oliver“I don’t think she felt entitled to his chair.”
Syd“Not the chair.”
Oliver“He could say no.”
Syd“Sure.”
Oliver“He could stop carrying the keys.”
Syd“Sure.”
Oliver“So he has something to do with it.”
Syd“There always is.”
Oliver waited.
Syd took a drink.
Syd“You know, infrastructure doesn’t get love and appreciation. It gets operated and maintained at the lowest cost.”
Oliver laughed.
Oliver“He just got applause.”
Syd“For fixing the microphone.”
Oliver“That was appreciation.”
Syd“That was appreciation for the microphone working.”
Oliver“They applauded him.”
Syd“They applauded the restoration of service.”
Oliver looked at Syd for a moment.
Oliver“That’s bleak.”
Syd“It’s accurate.”
Across the room, the man had managed two bites.
An older woman appeared beside him carrying a coffee urn.
She didn’t say anything.
Neither did he.
She smiled.
He closed his eyes.
Then he stood.
Syd pointed with his fork.
Syd“Six.”
Oliver laughed.
Oliver“All right.”
The man carried the urn toward the kitchen.
Oliver watched him go.
Oliver“He likes it.”
Syd“What?”
Oliver“Being needed.”
Syd shook his head.
Syd“You don’t know that.”
Oliver“Neither do you.”
Syd“I know his chicken’s cold.”
Oliver“He knows where everything is. Everybody trusts him. Something goes wrong and they come find him.”
Syd“Exactly.”
Oliver“You’re saying that like it’s entirely bad.”
Syd“I’m saying eventually they stop seeing the difference between him and the keys.”
Oliver looked toward the kitchen.
The man came back carrying the urn.
Someone called his name from another table.
He turned immediately.
Oliver raised his eyebrows.
Syd saw it.
Syd“Don’t.”
Oliver“I didn’t say anything.”
Syd“You were about to.”
Oliver“I think he likes it.”
Syd looked at the man.
This time he didn’t get up. He pointed toward a closet at the far end of the hall.
“Progress,” Syd said.
Oliver took another bite.
Oliver“Once you start identifying with doing that, then that’s who you become.”
Syd looked at him.
Syd“That’s good.”
Oliver“It’s also a problem for your argument.”
Syd“No, it isn’t.”
Oliver“A little.”
Syd“How?”
Oliver“Suppose nobody asks him for anything next Sunday.”
Syd“He gets a hot meal.”
Oliver“And the Sunday after that.”
Syd“Two hot meals.”
Oliver“And then nobody needs his opinion. Nobody asks where anything is. Nobody notices whether he comes.”
Syd looked across the hall.
The man had finally started eating.
Syd“That’s different.”
Oliver“Why?”
Syd“Because now you’re talking about being ignored.”
Oliver“Yes.”
Syd“That’s not the same as being left alone.”
Oliver“No.”
The woman at the microphone began announcing raffle numbers.
Neither of them had bought a ticket.
Syd pushed his green beans out of the gravy.
Syd“It’s the ‘I’m good either way’ mentality. Applies everywhere.”
Oliver looked at him.
Oliver“Does it?”
Syd“Yeah.”
Oliver“You don’t need anybody.”
Syd“I didn’t say that.”
Oliver“You’re good either way.”
Syd“I am.”
Oliver“Then what are they for?”
Syd stopped moving the beans.
Syd“What?”
Oliver“Other people.”
Syd“That’s a weird question.”
Oliver“It follows.”
Syd put down his fork.
Syd“You can want somebody without making them responsible for whether you’re okay.”
Oliver nodded once.
Oliver“That’s different.”
Syd“That’s what I said.”
Oliver“No. You said it applies everywhere.”
Syd laughed.
Syd“Fine.”
He picked up his fork again.
After a moment he said, “That’s what happened to me anyways.”
Oliver looked at him.
Syd kept eating.
The woman at the microphone announced another number.
A cheer went up near the back of the room.
Oliver said, “You can ask people for things.”
Syd“Obviously.”
Oliver“And tell them when something matters.”
Syd“Yes.”
Oliver“Even if they don’t like hearing it.”
Syd nodded.
Syd“I’m not asking you for anything. I’m just telling you this is what I need.”
Oliver“And if they don’t give it to you?”
Syd“Then you know.”
Oliver“Know what?”
Syd“What they’re willing to do.”
Oliver sat back.
Oliver“That I like better.”
Syd“Than what?”
Oliver“Being good either way.”
Syd“It’s the same thing.”
Oliver“I don’t think it is.”
Syd“Close enough.”
At the next table, a little girl dropped her plastic cup.
It bounced twice and rolled underneath a chair.
Her father bent down.
Before he reached it, the man with the keys had already picked it up.
He handed it to her.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She ran back to her seat.
The man watched her go.
He was smiling.
Oliver looked at Syd.
Syd had seen it too.
“He likes it,” Oliver said.
Syd“Maybe.”
Oliver“You can say it.”
Syd“I just did.”
The man checked his watch.
Then he stood.
Nobody had called him.
He carried his plate to the trash and walked toward the exit.
A woman near the door stopped him.
“You leaving?”
“Seven o’clock.”
“But we’ve still got cleanup.”
“I know.”
She waited.
The man reached into his pocket and took out a heavy ring of keys.
“I told Tom I had to leave at seven.”
“Oh.”
He placed the keys in her hand.
“Kitchen. Office. Storage room. Side door. Breaker panel’s behind the stage.”
She looked down at them.
“Okay.”
“See y’all Sunday.”
He pushed through the door and disappeared.
The woman stood there with the keys.
Someone called her name.
A folding table near the wall had locked halfway closed.
She looked at the table.
Then at the keys.
Then at the door.
Syd smiled.
Syd“Seven.”
Oliver laughed.
They finished eating.
By the time they carried their plates away, the table was still half open.
Three people had tried it.
Syd stopped beside it.
Syd“You know how these work?”
Oliver“No.”
Syd“Me neither.”
Oliver crouched beside the hinge.
Oliver“There should be a release.”
Syd“Should be?”
Oliver“I don’t manufacture them.”
Syd took the other end.
They pulled.
Nothing happened.
“Other way.”
They pushed.
Nothing happened.
Oliver got underneath it.
Oliver“Hold that.”
Syd“I am.”
Oliver“No, hold it.”
Syd“I am holding it.”
The table dropped six inches.
Syd caught it against his leg.
Syd“Jesus.”
Oliver“Sorry.”
They stood with the table between them.
Syd looked toward the door.
Syd“He’d have had this done already.”
Oliver“Probably.”
Syd“That’s the problem.”
Oliver reached underneath again.
Oliver“No. That’s why they give him the keys.”
He found the release.
The legs folded neatly underneath.
Together they carried the table to the wall.
“Happiness is just a byproduct of a good life,” Syd said.
Oliver leaned his end against the wall.
Oliver“Where did that come from?”
Syd“I was thinking about him.”
Oliver“The table?”
Syd“The guy.”
Oliver“And?”
Syd“He got to leave.”
Oliver picked up his coat.
Oliver“That made you happy?”
Syd“It made me hungry.”
Oliver“You just ate.”
Syd“I worked it off.”
Oliver“You folded one table.”
Syd“I maintained critical infrastructure.”
Oliver started toward the door.
Syd followed.
Syd“These days I think I worship silence and reason. Maybe good food. Like really good food.”
Oliver pushed open the door.
Oliver“Dessert?”
Syd walked through first.